(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
After graduating from university in 2015, I accumulated 7 years of experience in analyzing data by working in an everyday company. In my spare time, I helped with practitioner-run projects, including NTD TV. This year, when I heard that representatives from the Epoch Times and NTD TV planned to come to Taiwan to recruit a statistics team, I welcomed a turning point in my life.
My Understanding of Choice
After discussing with my family and managers at work, I decided to work full time in a media company started by Falun Dafa practitioners. This was not an easy decision, but I had always wanted to contribute my knowledge to a project to let people know about Falun Dafa. Therefore, I never wavered in the process of overcoming many difficulties.
No matter what environment we are in, how we arrange our time to do the three things well is a test for every practitioner. We are able to be Dafa disciples in this lifetime because of the right choices we made time and again throughout history.
I once read an article about a practitioner’s past life. He wrote that in a previous lifetime, he was a bodyguard for Emperor Kangxi. Even though it was a hard and short life, it was a choice he did not regret. At his level, he observed that every time we made a correct choice, we left behind a shining record. The old forces even made it a rule that one must accumulate a number of such records in order to become a Falun Dafa practitioner. Many non-practitioners fell short by one or two choices.
After reading this article, I felt sorry for those around me who were not practitioners. I admired practitioners who persisted in validating the Fa for many years. No matter how many lifetimes we have been through and the choices we made, this is the final act in the millennia-long play.
I later realized that a sudden test I went through a few months before I started working full time in media was arranged as a cleansing process.
Master said,
“Cultivation? We didn’t arrange cultivation for him. What’s cultivation? We just want to cleanse, cleanse step by step, all the way up. Cleanse it—it’s as simple as that!” Yet when manifest at different levels, it becomes paving the way, having troubles, enduring hardships, eliminating karma, cultivating, and so on, cultivating one way, practicing another way...” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)
Maintaining Righteous Thoughts During Tribulations
After the new year, the left side of my face suddenly became swollen. It improved after I did the exercises, read the Fa and sent righteous thoughts. I felt certain substances being taken away in other dimensions, and the pain subsided when I examined myself, found my attachments and sincerely repented my mistakes. The swelling returned after several hours. The pain spread to my head and eyebrows, and I could not sleep.
Master said,
“Once you improve your xinxing, your body will undergo a great change. Upon xinxing improvement, the matter in your body is guaranteed to transform. What kind of changes will take place? You will give up those bad things that you are attached to.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I realized that the swelling was caused by all the attachments and bad substances that I hung on to for a long time. These things accumulated in other dimensions and now manifested here, in the human dimension.
In the past, I often thought about bad people's loopholes, and I loved to watch movies about this. Focusing on others’ shortcomings has a negative effect on cultivators because it makes one’s thoughts complicated.
Although I knew I should get rid of such complexities in my thinking because I practice cultivation, I was not able to control myself. Isn’t this similar to what I experienced with the swelling on my face? Whenever I eliminated my attachments, it swelled again and the pain worsened.
I enlightened that it was the price I had to pay for wasting time in the past. I wasted the precious time Master extended for us to cultivate and this was a serious matter. When I sincerely apologized to Master and made up my mind to cherish the time to cultivate, I felt a huge piece of negative matter was removed. I thought that since this thing won’t let me sleep, I will use the time to study the Fa and send righteous thoughts. I wanted to recoup the time that I wasted in the past.
Thus from Monday when the swelling began, I endured the repeated process of the pain subsiding and recurring. The pain was so intense that I was unable to think and I had no appetite. I lost 4 kilos (9 lbs.). On Saturday I was unable to go to work and asked for a half day leave to stay home. I went to the practice site and did the exercises outside. It was cold, wet and windy. On the way home, I felt cold and hungry. My head and face throbbed. My body gradually got cold and all my bad thoughts returned.
When the swelling first started, my family asked me to go to the hospital. They felt it was connected to the nerves in my head and the situation was serious. They were worried that I might die. I thought, “Don’t tell me I’m going to die. I’ve done everything I could and tried my best. What else can I do?” In spite of how terrible I felt, I persisted in watching videos of Master’s lectures while sitting in the full lotus position. Before I went to work, I watched half of Lecture 9. I told myself that even if I died that day, I must finish watching the second half of the lecture.
When I began to watch the lecture, I could feel the cold in my body slowly leave, and I was enveloped by a warm energy. I sat quietly listening to the Fa until a certain part when disciples applauded. I suddenly recalled the first time I attended the nine day Falun Dafa introductory class and watched Master’s taped lectures. I was perplexed because the applause interrupted Master’s lecture. I asked my family member who attended the class with me, “Why did everyone clap?” He replied that perhaps people thought what Master said was great or maybe they were moved. I still thought there was no need to keep clapping. I did not realize this thought was being disrespectful of Master and Dafa.
This time, I felt completely different watching Master’s taped lectures. I deeply felt my heart was with the practitioners who listened to Master’s teachings. I understood the respect and gratitude they had for Master, and I was moved to tears. Whenever the practitioners applauded, I would do heshi to express my respect for Master. I almost forgot about my pain.
After I finished watching Lecture 9, I did heshi once again and said in a soft voice: “Thank you Master!” I felt surrounded by energy and my whole head felt hot. I was thirsty and got up to drink water. However it tasted weird, like I was drinking blood, not water. I ran to the toilet to spit it out and saw blood and pus. All kinds of red, yellow, bad substances were coming out. That giant swelling on my face broke and I was fine in an instant!
I truly experienced what it means by the saying, “Things will turn around after reaching an extreme.” Before I watched the lecture, I felt like I was going to die, yet I recovered in an instant. It turns out my perseverance during this period of time was all part of the process of things taking a turn for the better. In spite of the false surface appearances, Master looks after everything and makes sure nothing goes wrong.
Master said,
“When you are overcoming a real hardship or tribulation, you try it. When it is difficult to endure, try to endure it. When it looks impossible and is said to be impossible, give it a try and see if it is possible. If you can actually do it, you will indeed find, “After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!”” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
Looking back at the 6-day ordeal, the constant pain I was in made me feel it was so long and hard for me to hang onto. I did not even realize that I had the “issue of pursuit” that Master talked about in Zhuan Falun.
A practitioner later pointed out that doing the exercises, studying the Fa and sending righteous thoughts during a tribulation seemed to be doing these things with a heart of pursuit. After this tribulation I realized that practicing cultivation with a pure heart means not having any conditions attached. Even if I was going through a test, I should not do the exercises just to make myself feel comfortable. This is because we are Falun Dafa disciples, and we should listen to Master and unconditionally do the three things well.
Therefore, when I simply wanted to finish listening to Lecture 9 without any pursuit, Master gave me hints and I realized that many years ago, the thought that “there is no need to applaud” was being disrespectful to Master and the Fa and it should have been immediately rectified.
Respecting Master and the Fa is a matter that all Dafa disciples should pay attention to. Our casual thoughts, whether big or small, may cause tribulations. Afterward, a practitioner reminded me that I should send righteous thoughts more frequently because no matter how dire the situation, it is not an excuse to persecute Dafa disciples and force them to pass away prematurely.
Cultivate As I Did in the Beginning
With Master’s help, I overcame my sickness karma and joined the media company. The biggest gain was the improvement in my cultivation state. In the past, I found it hard to ensure that I sent righteous thoughts at the four set times during the day. Now, not only am I able to do so, I felt my field in other dimensions brighten. I cherish the group environment of doing the exercises, studying the Fa and sharing cultivation experiences. I try to harmonize our cultivation environment, which in turn tempers us and in the process, our deeply seated human notions are removed layer by layer.
In the past, I was busy switching between my everyday job and Dafa projects. I always felt pressed for time and I longed to have more time to study the Fa and do the exercises. A practitioner once said that eating and drinking are things we must do every day, therefore we don’t say that we have to eat or drink. However, to a true cultivator, studying the Fa and doing the exercises are the most basic things to do, so shouldn’t we do them without being reminded?
This year, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the New York head office for the Epoch Times and NTD TV. I was immersed in the local cultivation environment and participated in outdoor exercises to tell people about Falun Dafa. While I held a display board with information on Dafa, a person nodded at us amicably. Puzzled, I asked a practitioner, “Do you know him?” The practitioner said, “No, I don’t know him but maybe one day he will practice.” The practitioner then offered him a flier. I was amazed by how naturally the practitioner told people about Dafa. It made me recall that when I first began to practice, I was like that too. Every time I went out with another practitioner to eat or buy a drink, he handed out cards which had a brief introduction to Dafa. People gladly took the card and thanked him.
Other practitioners inspired me to be more proactive in telling people about Dafa. In the beginning, I was afraid to speak English, but with the wish to tell people about Dafa, Master arranged for Chinese people to ask me things and provided me with the opportunity to clarify the truth. Together with another practitioner, we also helped Chinese nationals quit the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) while catching the train to attend a group Fa study. Right up to a few days before I returned to Taiwan, I even met people who asked me for directions. I tried my best to overcome my fear of conversing in English. When I had the heart to save people, Master and divine beings helped me. English words kept popping up in my mind and I was able to tell them about Dafa.
Conclusion
Putting my whole heart into doing the three things helped me return to the cultivation state I had when I first started practicing. I was sometimes moved to tears when I listened to other practitioners’ experiences. One sharing about vows left a deep impression on me: The practitioner dreamed that he was taken to a place where our vows are kept. There were three levels, the scrolls in the bottom level was for those who were lost. The middle section contained the vows of those who obtained the Fa but did not do the things required of us. The top level contained scrolls for practitioners who are fulfilling their vows now. The practitioner saw his scroll. Although it was not written in the current Chinese language, he vaguely understood that the part of his vow he fulfilled emitted golden light and was placed right in front. The part that he was currently working on kept flashing while the ones he had not completed were still quietly waiting.
As beings who went through different reincarnations and were fortunate enough to become Dafa practitioners in this lifetime, our vows are either shining or dark, depending on the choices we make. I hope we can cherish every sentient being we meet.
This is my understanding at my level. I hope we can learn from one another and cultivate diligently.
Thank you Master and all practitioners!
(Presented at the 2023 Taiwan Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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